Rotary valve for explosive-engines.



W. R. HALLETT. ROTARY VALVE FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1a, 1913.

1,109,628, Patented Sept.1,1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. R. HALLET'T.

ROTARY VALVE FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1913.

v Patented Sept. 1; 1914 s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

K572 ijfz t/ E A 4 E 2/ M W a. ANN

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W. R. HALLETT.

ROTARY-VALVE FOR BXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLICATION TILED JUNE 18, 1913.

Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

lTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM RICHARD HALLETT, or cAs'ron, ALBERTA, CANADA.

ROTARY VALVE FOR, EXPLOSIVE-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

Application filed June 18, 1913. Serial No. 774,399.

To all whom itgaay' concern: p Be it known-that I, WILLIAM Rrcrmnn HALLETT, a citizen'of the Dominion of Canada, residing at the village of Castor, in the Province of Alberta and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Valves for Explosive-Engines, of which the following is a. specification.

My invention relates to rotary valves for explosive engines, and more particularly to valves for that class of engines used in aeronautic service, where lightness of construction, compactness and thorough ventilation and cooling of the operative parts are the objects sought for. 7 As a matter of convenience, and as show-. ing its adaptability to multi-cycle motors, I have illustrated the valve as connected with a four cycle engine of my invention,- and which forms the subject matter of an application for a patent made contempora neously with this. Referring to the drawings which form a part thereof,-and in which- Figure l, 1s an open sectional view of a multi-piston four cycle engine with the necessary valves connected therewith. Fig. 2 illustrates the positions of the dilferent valves, with relation to the positions of the pistons as shownin Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end view of the valve, the positions of the in-} terior parts being indicated by dotted lines; Fig. 4, is a side view, portions ofthe outer cover, the perforated bushing, and the valve being broken away that the relative posi-1 tions of the parts may be fully shown; Fig. 5, shows the parts of the outer cover-. ing drawn apart. Fig. 6, is the valve bush ing. Fig. 7 the revolving valve sleeve.

Fig. 8, the valve sleeve, with its supporting member. Fig. 9, the supporting membersefparate from the valve. Fig. 10, is a View 0 the valve sleeve and supporting mem-' her from the open side. Fig. 11, is a front view of the supporting member.

Similar letters. and numerals refer to sim-,

ilar parts throughout the different views.

It is a well known fact in gas engine practice that while the engine is at its best working condition when warmed up to a heat approximating the boiling point of water, the valve mechanism should be kept as cool as possible. To this end the valves of explosive engines have been located at as great a distance from the cylinders as possible, compatible with the symmetry of the machine as a whole, and the necessity of limiting the area within which the explosion occurs. Attempts have been made to obtain proper cooling by guiding the cool incoming charge against the parts of the valve most likely to be affected by the heat generated by the explosions. Water cooling has also been used; and while all such means are good where circumstances permit, where the engine is required for a special purpose such as automobile and airship propulsion, and lightness and compactness are absolutely requisite, something further is: required. I therefore provide means whereby all the parts of the valve are reached by the air, and thereby, and

assisted by the cool incoming charge of gas,

tons contained in a single cylinder, the

spaces between the pistons forming the combustion chambers and there being four of these in all, indicated in the figure as 9, 10, 11, and 12. The valves 1, 2, 3 and 4, connect with the chambers 9, 10, 11 and 12 respectively by the ports 13, 14, 15 and 16. The engine is of the double acting type, that is to say the explosions are effective in two directions at once. The shaft 17 at one end of the cylinder receiving an impulse at' the same time as the shaft 8 at the opposite end of the cylinder. As there are four comb .stion chambers and the explosions occur in these in rotation from right to left, and as each explosion brings about a half revolution of the shafts 8 and 17 it follows, that two complete revolutions of the shafts are produced by in the chambers, and and 6 must be in one to two in order which-are located the the four. explosions that the gears 7 the proportions of x that the shaft 5 on four valves, may bring each of these into the positions required for the four operations necessary in the combustion chambers, that is to say, charging, compressing, exploding and exhausting.

Fig. 2, illustrates the positions of the valves as related to the piston positions as shown in Fig. 1, the valve 1 moving to the charging position, valve 2 coming to the compression position, 3 ready to explode, and 4 exploded.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the arranging of the valve in connection with engines of the multi-cyh inder or types other than that shown would be merely a matter of detail which any good mechanic would readily accomplish, and that it does not follow that all the types of en gine to which my device is applicable would require four separate valves, to make an operative combination. Types of engine will readily occur to those familiar with the art,

- in which a single valve would accomplish all that was required.

Turning now from its connection with the engine to the parts which go to make up the valve itself, and which differentiate it, so widely from the rotary valves previously used, 5 in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10 is the shaft upon which the valve is built up. To the shaft 5 is secured a structure A, consisting of a hub 18 bored to fit the shaft, two radially extending wings 19 and 20 and ends 21 and 22. Either or both of the ends 21.

and 22 may be separable from the hub and wings, but ordinarily it would be preferable that the hub, wings and endpieces be intes grally formed. The ends of the part A are semi-circular in form, but irregularly shaped eircumferentially, being adapted to receive the .sleeve 23, and therewith form true circles.

The sleeve 23 is in the form of a segmentally deficient cylinder, and it is provided interiorly with longitudinal grooves 24 and 25 adapted for the reception of the wings 19 and 20 of the structure A. The sleeve 23 is of the same length as thestructure A, and the parts are joined by sliding the sleeve 23 onto the structure A, the wings 19 and 20 entering the grooves 24 and 25 and forming a longitudinal central partition through the part 23, the parts 21 and 22 entering the ends of the part 23 and closing the same from the center outward, and the irregularly cut peripheries of the ends 21 and 22 registering with the deficient part of the sleeve 23 and complementing the same, the part 23 being secured to the structure A by any preferred means. The structure so formed is indicated as B. It will be understood that this is a preferred method of constructing the moving part of the valve as shown in Fig. 10, but the part 23 might form an integral part of the structure A, or the ends,

21 arid 22 might overlap the ends of the part 23, closing the same as previously described without departing from my invention.

The structure B formed by the joining of the part 23 with the structure A is shown longitudinally in Fig. 10, and an end view of the same is given in Fig. 8. From these it will be seen that the moving part B of the valve consists of a cylinder divided through the center, the one half open from end to end, the other half, closed at the ends and having a longitudinal, opening 26 in its side of a width slightly in excess of one quarter of its circumference, the opening 26 giving entrance to the interior of that part of the cylinder otherwise closed.

The structure B requires to be carefully ground to true cylindericity to fit the sleeve or bushing 27 within which it is required to revolve. The sleeve 27 is a cylinder of the same length as the structure B to which it is closely fitted; and it is provided on its outer surface with four equidistant longitudinal grooves 28, 29, 30, and 31, for a purpose eX- plained later on, and the parts of the sleeve 27 between the grooves are closely filled with the perforations 32.

The sleeve 27 being slipped over the structure B, the outer case C is next placed in position, this is made in two halves, an upper 33 and a lower 34, these have been shown sectionally, and drawn apart in Fig. 5. As clearly shown in that figure, each of the halves is provided with. two inwardly projecting plates, those pertaining to the upper half being indicated as 35 and 36, and those to the lower half as 37 and 38. These plates project inwardly from the outer shell, and extend longitudinally to connect with the end plates of the half to which they belong.

When the parts 33 and 34 of the outer ease C are brought together about the parts of the valve previously described, the inner edges. of the plates 35 and 36 are disposed in the grooves 28 and 29 respectively of the sleeve 27,, and the edges of the plates 37 and 38 in the grooves 31 and 30, the ends of the halves 33 and 34 coming together, and cov ering all the parts as far in toward the center as the inner periphery of the part 23. The halves 33 and 34 are secured together by the screws 39 which pass through clips on both. The upper half 33 of the port 0 carries on it the exhaust pipe 40 and half of the port connecting the valve with the engine, and the lower half 34 carries the pipe 41 connecting with the carburetor, and the remaining half of the engine port connec tion.

It will. be noticed in Figs. 1 and 4 that a portion of the outer case C is provided with perforations, 42, but that these connnunicate only with that portion of the interior of the case G lying between the plates 35 valve when completed'is secured to the cylinder of the engine by the screws 43, in

Fig. 3: As finished, the valve when seen from the end, presents the appearance shown in Fig. 3, that is to say, a cylindrical case, with circular openings in the ends, exposing to view the closed end of the structure B, and permitting a view clear through the open part thereof from end to end.

The plates 35, 36, 37 and 38 divide the interior of the case C, between its outer shell and. the sleeve 27, into four longitudinal compartments, 44, 45, 46 and 47 (Figs. 3 and 4), the perforations 32 in the sleeve 27 permittin communication between the moving part of the valve, and the said chambers. The chamber 45 has communication with the outer air by the exhaust pipe 40, the chamber 46 communicates with the engine by the port 13, the chamber 47 with the carbureter by the pipe 41, and the chamber 44 communicates with the outer air by the perforations 42 (Fig. 4) opening in to it.

The operation of the valve will be under stood to be as follows,the structure B is the moving part of the valve, and the longitudinal chamber 26 therein is the operative means of connection between engine port, the feed pipe, and the exhaust outlet. PIG". suming for the sake-of convenience that the engine is of the type shown in the drawings and that four valves are connected up therewith, each of the valves would-be secured to the shaft 5 with the opening 26 in the mov ing part one quarter turn in advance of the same in the next following valve. Thus, refering to Figs. .1 and 2, and bearing in mind that the valves are in motion, an explosion has taken place in'the combustion chamber 12, and the valve sleeve 23 is shown with a portion of its open part 26 just past the longitudinal partition 36, thus establishing communication between the engine port 16 and the exhaust pipe 40, the gases passing from the engine into the compartment 46 (Fig 3) through the perforations in the sleeve 27 into the open part 26 in the structure B, and out through the perforation in the sleeve 27 opening into the compartment 33 thence through the exhaust pipe 40 to the air.

As previously stated the opening 26 in the structure is cut slightly wider than one quarter of the perimeter of the sleeve 26,

and the valve is set to commence opening slightly before the end of the stroke of the pistons, thus on the return stroke the waste gases are forced from the combustion chamber at but slightly over atmospheric pressure. Simultaneously with theexplosion in chamber 12, the valve 3 has moved to a po sition where egress from the cylinder is impossible, and a charge of explosive mixture has been compressed in the combustion chamber 11, the valve 2 has allowed a charge of the mixture to be drawn through it into the chamber 10, and the valve 1 has moved to a through it to the chamber 9.

It will be noted that the charge of explosive mixture is drawn into the valve through the perforations 32 in the sleeve 22 ing charge is multiplied many times b' the" intervention of the perforations. In ad ition to this'provision for cooling it will be seen that the same has been kept in view all through. As shown, the structure B is open to the air all the way through for one half of its dimension, thus cooling the inner periphery of the valve sleeve 23 and the wings 19 and 20. The perforations 42 in the outer cover, allow the air to enter the chamber 44, I

and the perforations in the bushing or sleeve 27 allow it to reach the outer periphery of the sleeve 23 as it revolves in the said sleeve 27. When the opening 26 is opposite the chamber 44, the air may enter and circulate in the closed part of the structure B. Thus, as the valve is surrounded by the air, and provision is made for fresh air reaching all the inner parts, and these provisions are supplemented by the rush of cool explosive mixture at constantly recurring intervals, the valve is continuously in the proper working condition.

point where it may receive a charge Having thus fully described my said invention what I claim as new. is

1. A rotator for the valves of explosive engines, including a shaft and a supporting means mounted on said shaft, said means comprising semi-circular circumferentially irregularly shaped end pieces and longitudinally disposed radially extending wings connecting said end pieces; av segmentall deficient cylindrical sleeve, longitudinal y extending grooves on the inner periphery of said sleeve adapted for the reception of said wings, the ends of said supporting means closing the ends of said sleeve to the extent of-their area, the irregular parts of said end pieces registering with the deficient part of said sleeve and completing the cylindrical shape of the ends thereof.

2. A device of the character described comprising a hollow rotary valve, a valve casing having inlet and exhaust ports and a port connecting with an engine, a chamber in said valve and a longitudinally elongated .casing having inlet and exhaust ports and a a port connecting with an engine, a longitudinally disposed partition dividing the interior of said valve into two parts, one ofsaid parts-being closed at the ends, and the other open and adapted for the passage of air therethrough, a longitudinally elongated peripheral opening in said valve communicating with the closed part thereof, said opening forming meanswhereby the engine port in said casing is alternately brought into communication with said inlet and ex haust ports, and a perforated cylindrical bushing interposed between said valve and casing, said ports communicating through said perforations, the elements composing an incoming charge of explosive being thereby co-mingled and their coolness imparted to the parts of said valve structure.

4. A device of thecharacter describedcomprising a'hollow rotary valve, a valve casing having inlet and exhaust ports and a port connecting with an engine, a perforated bushing interposed between said valve and casing, longitudinally disposed radially extending partitions dividing said casing into separate compartments, said ports selectively connecting with said co1npartments, perforations in the wall of said casing, the interior of said valve being divided longitudinally into two parts, the ends of one part closed and the other open, a longitudinally extending peripheral opening in said valve communicating with the closed part thereof, rotation of said valve serving by means of said opening to alternately connect the engine connected compartment with the inlet and exhaust port compartments, the incoming charge of gas.

cooling the perforated parts through which it passes, the inner peripheral wall of the valve cooled by the passage of air through its open part, the outer peripheral wall of said valve, and the chamber in said valve ,cooled by the passage of air through the concentric therewith, a compartmentally divided casing inclosing said bushing and said valve to the inner peripheral wall thereof, the outer periphery of said bushing being provided with longitudinal grooves adapted to receive the edges of the dividing Walls in said casing, said casing having inlet, ex-.

haust and engine ports opening into said compartments, and perforations in a portion of its outer wall, said casing being made in two halves adapted to be bolted together about the other parts of the struc.

ture and secured to the cylinder of an engine.

a In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM RICHARD HALLETT.

Witnesses Geo. AUXIER, JOHN HALLnr'r. 

